Barakar Stage

Barakar Stage the lowest stage of the Damuda Series of the Lower Gondwana System of India. The name is derived from the Barakar branch of the Damuda river in Raniganj coalfield, Bihar, India. The rock unit is composed mainly of coarse, soft, usually white massive sandstone and some shale with coal seams. The stage rests unconformably upon the Talchir Series and is conformably underlain by iron stone shale. The formation contains fossil flora, which indicates an Early Permian age. The Barakar seems to have been laid down in large shallow lakes, some of which were connected by streams. This unit has a number of coal seams and in places is associated with beds of fireclay. The coal appears to be due to the accumulation of large amounts of debris of terrestrial plants deposited under stagnant condition. It has a wide distribution in the Gondwana Basin outside west bengal, namely in the Satpura, the Mahanadi and the Godavari valleys. In Bangladesh the unit has been reported from the subsurface section at Kuchma in bogra district, and has been designated as kuchma formation. Type area: Damuda area of West Bengal, India. [M Abu Bakr]